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GENEWS ONLINE is the online edition of the official publication of The UPLB Genetics Society. The UPLB Genetics Society, also known as GeneSoc, is a duly recognized academic organization at UP Los Banos. The organization strives to promote and create awareness about the science of Genetics in the Philippines.

Los Baños – Seventeen participants from state universities,
private institutions and government agencies gather in UPLB to attend a
week-long training course on basic molecular techniques and data analysis,
organized by the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBB) Laboratories and the
Genetics and Molecular Biology Division (GMBD) of the Institute of Biological
Sciences (IBS) this July 6-10, at the Molecular Genetics Laboratory of IBS.

The week-long training course started with an overview of the
program and lectures on introductory molecular biology and nucleic acid
isolation techniques, followed by hands-on activities on the use of
micropippetors, genomic DNA Isolation, agarose gel electrophoresis, and DNA
quantitation. First day ended with demonstration on new technologies like Qubit ® Fluorometer
and Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer.

Participants will examine DNA sequences produced from their
wet-lab through
scoring, sequence editing, homology and alignment. Lectures on different molecular markers and how to download and
upload sequences using Genbank will also be conducted. Last dry-lab works include genetic distance analysis and tree building.

Also included in the training is a tour of the laboratories in UP
Diliman-National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB),
Philippine Genome Center (PGC) Sequencing and Bioinformatics Facility, and
Genotyping Services Laboratory (GSL) of the International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI).

“[For me] very important, kasi kapag sa educ ka superficial lang
'yung binibigay sa'yo, karamihan alam mo more on theory, so dito nakikita mo
yung itinuturo at iniimagine, nakikita mo na variable lahat... Sample specific
kasi generalized masyado sa mga libro." Eddie Fetalvero, an Instructor
from Romblon State University and currently a PhD student of UP Open
University, responded when ask about how essential this training would be for
him.

Mr. Fetalvero also added that the activities in the training
already exceeded his expectations so far, knowing that it was just the second
day while commending the facilitators for being too hospitable and humble
enough in interacting with the participants.

GeneSoc Represents

An alumna of the organization, Ms. Maria Renina Nissa Agcaoili (Euchromatin),
is also present as one of the participants. She told the GENEWS Team that she's
really happy and grateful to be back in UPLB after years of not seeing her
beloved university.

Being a BS Biology graduate who took up Cell and Molecular Biology
as her major, she said that the training really help her recall all the
laboratory techniques she learned back in her undergraduate years. "I know
that this will be very significant to me especially in my future studies in
graduate school," she added.

About the MBB Laboratories, IBS

The Molecular Biology
and Biotechnology (MBB) Laboratories of Institute of Biological Sciences (IBS),
University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) was established in 2002. The MBB
Laboratories include the Molecular Genetics, Natural Products, and Toxicology
laboratories. IBS-MBB has adequate facilities and equipment for carrying out
academic and research activities in different areas of molecular biology and
biotechnology.

Most of the equipment
was initially obtained through the Department of Science and Technology -
Engineering and Science Education Program (DOST-ESEP) and later on through
institutional grants from PCIEERD-DOST (formerly PCASTRD) and from other
molecular biology-related projects.

The DNA Backbone

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About The UPLB Genetics Society

The UPLB Genetics Society, also known as GeneSoc, is a duly recognized academic organization in UPLB that was established in 1983. Through the years, the organization strives to promote and create awareness about the science of Genetics in the Philippines.